Life After The Man From UNCLE
by gerlorie
Summary: Bob Peterson, from the last story, has another adventure with U.N.C.L.E. This time the TV show brings his family together as they fondly remember the '60's. Apologies to the producers of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. for borrowing their material. I own no ri
1. Chapter 1

Life After _The Man From U.N.C.L.E_.

325 Mulberry Road was located just outside of Washington D.C. A family by the last name of Peterson occupied the home for at least 10 years. The family consisted of father, Robert (Bob) Peterson, age 51, his wife, Millie Peterson, age 50, their daughter Jennifer, age 16, and son, Anthony age 13.

Millie was an RN for an MD's office and kept the hours Monday-Thurs. 8-6. It was a demanding job, and she frequently came home in bitter spirits.

Bob Peterson was a man whose looks were not unusual for an average US citizen. He was 5'6", had brown and gray, balding hair, and was probably about 40 pounds overweight. For a man of his height, the extra weight was not terribly flattering.

Bob's work life was just a bit more unusual than his appearance. To the family and friends, he was thought to be an employee for an advertising firm. In his private office, he had heaps of paper in assorted piles. No one would have thought that his job was other than what he described.

In actuality, Bob worked for the government. He was an undercover agent an investigative department for 10 years. His position required mainly investigations into the financial dealings of insurance companies. In truth, Bob would have preferred to work for a more exciting investigative position. However, times as they were, lay-offs, and pay cuts, Bob kept his feelings and unhappiness to himself.

Millie, on the other hand, was a red head; 5'5" and was quite an attractive woman. However, her unhappiness from her job lent her physical features to be a definite drawback. She never had a smile on her face and was too serious, with only a hint of a sense of humor.

Both Mildred and Bob dressed in an informal, casual, but not particularly stylish type of clothing. Their children were relentless in their criticism of their appearance. "Don't you think you should look a bit more distinguished living in D.C.? Dad" Anthony would ask. Jennifer admitted that she was actually embarrassed to have her parents with her; but then again, what 16 year old would differ from that attitude?

In 1964, Bob saw Sean Connery as James Bond in the _Goldfinger_ film. For years he couldn't get James Bond out of his mind. He loved to watch the TV spy spoofs such as _Get Smart_ or _The Man from U.N.C.L._E. even though they were silly and unrealistic, but were wonderful diversions for him.

Whenever, Bob had a moment to himself, he reflected upon those days, when he was a teenager, and wished that TV would air some of those shows. To his surprise, they were on occasionally, however, he always missed them.

Bob's older sister, Jeannie had a crush on the two agents on _THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. _She and her brother would fight over the TV to watch _U.N.C.L.E._ every Friday evening. He hated to admit to his sister that he actually loved the show too, for different reasons, of course. It just wasn't "cool" for an 11 year old to watch a show to which so many girls were addicted. They were all devoted fans of Napoleon or Illya.

Jeanne, now 56 suffered from severe depression. What a change from those days of her teens, also in the '60s. She was also very unhappy with her marriage to Adam Barkin.

Bob recalled how he'd tease her over her infatuation with Robert Vaughn who played Napoleon Solo, and yet the next week, David McCallum who played Illya Kuryakin. She became irate whenever he asked how a Scottish actor could play a Russian spy. "Because he's a great actor, you idiot!" she would reply. "Also he has a PhD from the Sorbonne. He also loved to annoy her when he pretended that he couldn't pronounce McCallum's character name. After botching the name up, she'd yell back at him; "It's I-L-L-Y-A K-U-R-Y-A-K-I-N, you dope!"

Years later, Jeanne, became a librarian. Bob always thought that she would follow a more exciting career. She was such an animated teen, and he never imagined her spending half of her life in a library. However, Library

Science was her major at NYU.

Jeannie married a classmate, Adam Barkin. He and Bob were pals. No family problems with their friendship. After 10 years of marriage, Jeannie and Adam began to have marital problems and considered divorce. There was rarely a smile on Jeannie's face anymore, and she rarely ceased to bring her attitude of depression. It drove Bob crazy to see his sister change from the bouncy teenager to a depressed 48 year old. She was also short and overweight, while Adam was tall and thin. She wondered if he was seeing another woman. Their problems seemed to be infinite. Each holiday became more difficult for the Peterson's and the Barkin's to enjoy.

This past Christmas, last month, Bob was wandering the aisles of Wal-Mart searching for a gift for Jeannie. As he saw a VHS set of _U.N.C.L.E., _he recalled how she loved the show. He thought that for once, she would have that happy expression by which he'd remember her. When she opened the gift, her reply disappointed him, for she explained, "How could you think that I'd watch such trivial nonsense. I have got a bit more sophisticated lifestyle than to sit around and watch old TV shows!" When Bob pointed out her previous teenage love for the agents, she thrust the packages into his hands and recommended that he return them. He could just give her a gift certificate. The tapes sat on the dining room table for a month.

What a disappointment to Bob. He thought that if anything, a happy reminder of the past would bring back some happiness in her life. Obviously, he was wrong.

This memory was running through Bob's brain as he was driving to work. So intense it was, that he nearly missed a left turn arrow. He was jarred back to the present as a passenger behind him blasted his horn. That was life these days. Everyone was rude and in a hurry. It seemed like the '60's was such a better time. Of course, Bob was remembering the best of the '60's.

That evening, Bob mentioned, before he went to bed, that his throat was bothering him. Millie, being an RN, demanded to "have a look." Her diagnosis was that he was assuredly catching the virus of the month, and that he had better not cough or sneeze on anyone in the family!

The next morning, Bob came downstairs dressed only in his bathrobe. "Hey, what's the matter with you, dad?" Anthony questioned his father's inappropriate attire.

Bob hoarsely replied that he had a terrible cold, cough, and was possibly was running a fever. He was definitely, for the first time in years, not going to work that day. Anthony said that he'd love to catch it from him so that he could miss a couple days of school. His father was quick to point out that his grades were already disgraceful and that missing school would not make life much easier. Millie reiterated her warning from last evening, that Bob had better not spread that darn virus around to the family. She ordered him to take a cold preparation, which Bob always referred to as "Millie's cocktail."

After the family left for their various daytime activities, he had the house to himself. He planned to catch some flicks on cable, and generally take advantage of the time off. His son's sentiments of enjoying the freedom were definitely in Bob's plans.

As Bob lay his aching body, upon the couch, his eyes fell upon the stack of "to be returned" items from Christmas. He saw the unopened package of VHS's from _"The Man From U.N.C.L.E." _TV show. "Aww, what the heck, I'll keep them, and get a few chuckles out of our old buddies Napoleon and whatever his name was. That flashback hit him again of the fun he had with Jeannie when they were teens.

After struggling to unwrap the package of 6 VHS, s Bob popped a one from the first season into their player. "The Quadripartite Affair/The Giuoco Piano Affair."

"I remember that one, no, I think it was, no…" He went on and on, until he just turned it on. Soon he heard Jerry Goldsmith's catchy musical introduction to the show. It would go through his head all the time in Jr. High. As he watched the 35-year-old TV show, Bob's eyes started to close. The "Millie Cocktail" started to take effect. He'd open his eyes on and off, and smiled. "Oh, if life were still like that" he mumbled. Then he fell asleep and started to dream.


	2. Chapter 2

His dreams were intermingled with those of this era. The shrill ring of the telephone awakened him. Groaning, he picked up the receiver, and thought to himself, "Who is daring to disturb me when I was both sleeping and sort of listening to one of his past favorite shows?"

The caller was his sister Jeannie. The call was one in which she was in tears, begging for her brother's advice. Obviously, she and Adam had had one of their notorious fights. Ironically, she was at home, sick with a virus as well as Bob.

After she calmed down, Jeannie could hear the sounds from the TV. The music sounded familiar. "What are you watching, Bobbie? It sounds familiar."

"Oh, I'm uh," he was a bit embarrassed that he never returned the gift to replace her Christmas present, "watching one of those _U.N.C.L.E. _tapes which you adamantly refused to have in your sophisticated home." Bob was a bit sarcastic as he still was a bit miffed from her rude rejection of his gift.

"You've got to be kidding?" she responded when he told her, in a tone, which was a 360-degree change from the origin of their conversation. "Ya know, maybe I should have given those tapes a chance. Hey, since we're both home sick, how about it if I come over and we'll watch it together like old times? How 'bout it Bobbie?"

Bob had never heard Jeannie sound so upbeat in years. Even though he was tired, and feeling poorly, he agreed to Jeannie's suggestion. "Yeah, sure. Ya feel up to driving?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm not _that_ sick! Hey, I'll be over in 15 minutes." Obviously they lived in a close proximity of each other.

When Jeannie arrived, without even saying hello to her brother, she ran over to the TV. "Which one are ya watching?" she asked excitedly.

"Uh, it's the Jeannie and Adam Have Another Fight Affair." He answered comically. He received a slap on the shoulder for his humorous yet sarcastic response.

"No, let me see." She grabbed the case off of the top of the TV. "Oh, I remember this one! I've got to watch it! Hey, rewind it from the beginning. We'll watch it like we did years ago!"

Bob stared at his sister. She was actually regaining her 11-year-old personality; simply over a TV show. He obeyed and rewound the tape.

"Oh, Bobbie, look at Napoleon; he's so cute! And Illya! Oh God, I had forgotten how much I loved those guys. Remember how you could never remember um, what's his name?"

"Illya Kuryakin" Bob reminded her; surprising his sister.

"Hey, you were the one who could never remember his name! Geesh, I've got some catching up to do."

"I thought that this was not good enough for your lifestyle, my wonderful sophisticated sister?" Bob chided her.

"Oh, shut up, and just listen to the show. I hope that no one calls."

"Uh, Jeannie, these days we can just, uh, rewind it. You're mind is stuck in the '60's. Ya know, no VCR's or DVD's?"

She turned her head to look at Bob and smiled. "Oh yeah, and we wouldn't have to fight over the TV if we had one of these" she said, her voice filled with happy memories.

Bob sat down next to her. "Ya know, in all truth, I used to really love this show. I just liked to annoy you and pretend to hate it."

Giving Bob an amusing glance, Jeannie replied happily, "And you think that I didn't know that? You loved it as much as I did. I'm glad that in, well, uh, 36 or 35 years that you finally admitted that."

"And I'm glad that after 35 years that you're finally smiling!"

They looked at each other, each remembering those wonderful years.

The phone rang, and Jeannie said, "Oh for God's sakes; who could that be? I just wanna watch the show."

"Remember; we can rewind it?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

Bob picked up the phone, a bit annoyed himself, and was shocked to learn that it was Adam calling for Jeannie. How did he know that she was over at his place?

"Hey, Jeannie-baby, it's for you! It's your hubby."

Jeannie put her hand over her mouth in shock. "You're kidding? He's calling me? We just had….."

He held his hand over the mouth piece of the phone, and commanded "Just pick up the phone and talk to him!"

Jeannie and Adam had what appeared to have been a conciliatory conversation. Her voice was still light and airy, as it had been watching the show.

"Ya know, I can get off work for a couple of hours; how 'bout it I come over to Bob's and we all watch it? I used to love the show too!"

"You did? Yeah, but we're both sick. You don't wanna catch this bug, Adam."

"I'll get sick anyway. I'm comin' over and I'll pick up some lunch or we'll order a pizza. How 'bout it, honey?"

He hadn't called her "honey" for years. It appeared that the TV show was having an amazing impact on everyone's behavior!

"Hey Bob, Adam wants to come over, watch the shows, and said that we could order a pizza. Is that OK with you?" Jeannie asked her brother.

"Sure, the more the merrier! We'll have an _U.N.C.L.E._ party!"

"You're crazy, Bob. Sure, Adam, that would be great!"

"I'll be over in, say, a half hour. You guys order a pizza and I'll, or we'll spring for it; OK?"

Jeannie laughed, surprised at his change in behavior, "Sure, Adam, come on over. We'll get a pizza or two. What d'ya like again on the pizza?"

They stopped watching the show for a bit, ordered two pizzas, and began to discuss what had happened between the two of them. As she explained the disagreement, Jeannie realized the triviality of the entire situation.

Within 30 minutes, both Adam and the pizzas arrived. The TV was turned on, and once again, the VHS was rewound to the beginning.

"My third time, listening to this music," Bob said as he grabbed a piece of pizza. "It's gonna be running through my head all day now."

Adam and Bob had a great friendship. "You're not the only one, buddy. I loved this show when I was in Jr. High. I never even told Jeannie that."

Jeannie turned to look at her husband. "Yeah, you never _did_ tell me that!"

As they watched the show and ate the pizza, they laughed and commented on their memories of the era. It was fun contrasting it to the present.

Before they knew it, 3:30 rolled along. Jennifer strolled in and smelled the pizza. She saw her dad, aunt and uncle sitting in the family room watching TV.

"So, were you guys planning a party all along, here? Mom's gonna be really pissed if she knows that you were just pretending to be sick, ya know! What are you watching anyway?"

Bob changed his position to look at his 16-year old daughter. She was close to the age that he was when he loved this show.

"Oh, honey, it's a long story. We're watching that _MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E._ series which I gave to Aunt Jeannie. Well, you may recall, that , I never returned."

Jeannie piped in, "And I'm taking it back, Bobbie."

"Forget it, sweetie, it's mine! You didn't want it, remember?" They began fighting over the tapes just like they fought over the TV show.

"You guys are crazy! I can download them from my computer, ya know." Jennifer retorted in a condescending and omnipotent manner.

"You gotta be kidding?" Bob said. "Here, all this time, I could have given it to Jeannie for free!" He laughed at his own joke.

"It's not the same, Bobbie. Ya know, getting this from you, I realize now, really meant a lot. You still remember those days, don't you? You remember the good times!"

"Well, I sure wish that you still had that attitude that you did when you were younger." Bob spoke, and wondered if he was embarrassing his sister in from of her husband.

"Jeannie, I think that we should either take these home or download these, as Jennifer recommended, so that we can find some happiness back in our lives." Adam with a tone of optimism.

"Aww, you guys are so cute." Jennifer interrupted. "You should only know how many of my friends' parents have these _U.N.C.L.E._ parties. Geesh, you'd think that they wanted to be our age again!"

All three adults laughed.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" Bob surprisingly asked his somewhat "know it all" daughter. "We should all get together and join them."

Jennifer rolled her eyes back. "I can't believe you guys. Well I've gotta do something useful _like my homework!_"

"Hey, just wait 'til you're our age. You'll be watching re-runs of "Desperate Housewives!" Everyone laughed at

Bob's joke.


End file.
